Theoretical Background
The goal of this paper is to examine students' perceptions of the gender norms associated with advertising agency creative departments and to discuss the possible implications of those perceived gender norms. Since there has been little empirical and theoretical research in the advertising literature, we examine literature from psychology, organizational behavior and economics to learn more about this phenomenon. Bias against women in the workplace has been shown through many studies addressing a wide range of topics. Research has shown that typically female jobs are likely to be associated with less pay (Endicott 2002), less on-the-job training (Catalyst 2004a, 2004c), fewer benefits (Perman & Stevens 1989) and fewer promotion opportunities (Steinberg et al 1990). Even when women obtain positions in male-dominant fields, they are likely to experience other forms of discrimination.
The symphony orchestra is one occupation where women have been discriminated against for many years. Some of the most prestigious symphonies still do not allow females to apply for positions. The Vienna Philharmonic, when questioned their practice of allowing only males into the symphony, responded with a letter referring to their opponents as "militant feminists who are more interested in equal rights than artistic efficacy" (Osborne 1996). Symphony conductors have frequently been heard saying that women are inferior to men in musical ability (Goldin and Rouse 1997). To overcome gender and other bias in hiring, some symphony orchestras changed their hiring practices in the 1970s, a time when women represented only 5% of musicians in symphony orchestras (Goldin and Rouse 1997). Orchestras began to conduct a "blind" screening process for hiring, with a screen in place to conceal the identity of the job candidate. Goldin and Rouse (1997) were able to examine data to determine the impact of this change in hiring practices. They found that blind screening increased the likelihood of females advancing out of preliminary rounds by 50 percent. In the final rounds of interviewing, blind screening increased women's chances of being hired by 30 percent. Women now make up over 25 percent of orchestra musicians, and about 35 percent of this can be attributed to the change in hiring practices (Goldin and Rouse 1997). This is a large increase considering how few positions become available in a symphony each year.
The symphony orchestra is a prime example of the harmful implications of gender norms. Because women were not allowed into colleges and universities to study music, the profession has a history of male dominance and female exclusion, leading to the belief by some that males are superior musicians (Osborne, 1996). The normative association of males with positions in symphonies has even spawned attempts to posit the biological superiority of men, as some traditionalists claim that women cannot play alongside men because they have different bodies (Osborne 1996). "Many orchestras still refuse to use screened auditions, especially in the final round, since they feel it is important to know what the musician looks like when he or she plays. The scope of the visual criteria is very undefined" (Osborne, 1996). However, the implementation of blind screening has successfully eliminated gender information from influencing judgment. As a result, the percentage of female musicians in the orchestra has increased dramatically.
There are three general theories this paper builds from to discover more about the effects of the gender norms on women's underrepresentation in advertising creative departments. The first is the theory of motivated expectations, developed by Kunda (1990), which states that people are motivated to reach a conclusion that is congruent with their preexisiting viewpoints. In order to reach a desired conclusion, people are able to switch processing styles from a more complex reasoning to a simpler reasoning, depending on the stimulus with which they are exposed (Klaczinski, Gordon and Fauth 1997). This paper also explores the impact that gender stereotypes can have within organizational life. People use social categories and stereotypes to inform their decision processes, even when they are unaware this information is influencing their information processing (Dunning & Sherman 1997). Finally, role congruity theory discusses the differences between leadership roles and gender roles, and examines the possible implications of the conflict between these two roles (Eagley and Karau 2002). Through examining how preexisting gender stereotypes can bias information gathering, search and retrieval, we hope to learn more about the perpetuation of gender stereotypes within the creative department of advertising agencies. Further, this study examines the differential impact of each of the previous factors on hiring decisions for two levels within the advertising agency, the creative director position (a management position) and the junior creative position (a junior position).
Thus, the intended contribution of the present paper is to explore the impact that stereotypes and social categorization have on advertising students. This paper proposes that preexisting views about the type of person that typically holds a position as an advertising creative can have an impact on many processes downstream. If there are preexisting views about who holds this position, this could affect advertising students' choices about an area of study, recruiters' choices when hiring creatives, and creatives' views of their colleagues in the field.